Should I, shouldn't I?

I'm not going to go into massive detail but the basic outline of the thread is this...

I was involved in quite a serious car crash last year, along with some of my closest friends. My injuries were a punctured lung and broken jaw on both sides. However, more seriously, my best friend suffered a serious head injury and died three times at the scene of the accident. He was in an unconcious state for about a month and only recovered well enough to leave hospital after about 3 months.

Whilst he was in hospital and through his recovery phase I believe that I played a crucial role and helped him on his way to recovery. Whenever I had chance in between my studies I would try to go and see him and support him as much as possible, as well as keep his hopes up in what was a terrible experience for him and others around him. When other people became frustrated at his change in behaviour I tried to remain tolerant. (By the way he is about 90% now and has even started going back into work for 3 days a week!)

Although this seems irrelevant to anything involved in these forums I was pondering whether to include this in my UCAS personal statement. The incident has had a massive impact on my life and I believe that it shows a lot about my personality. Will the universities see this as some sort of sympathy card or is it really worth bringing the matter up at all??

Cheers

Reply 1

River85

It was a very traumatic incident and I feel for you. I know how difficult such a thing is to overcome. But I personally wouldn't. If you feel that it's had an effect on your academic performance there are other ways of informing the university. Othweise your PS should be used mainly to convey your passion for the course.

That said, there still may be a way of briging it in and briefly mentioning it in a way that probably wouldn't put you at any disadvantage at least. You'd need to be a bit creative.

What are you thinking of studying?

Reply 2

milly.

I think you should.
In my personal statement, I talked about a skydive I did to raise money for a charity, in memory of a friend who had died.
I know it's not quite the same, but it did me no harm, 5/5 offers.

Reply 3

rian

Your PS is about you as a person, if it has had a big effect on you I would consider including it. Just be very aware of not "playing the sympathy card". If you can detail how it has given you more life experiance and better prepared for the course you may be on to a winner.

Reply 4

tired yet?

i think you should.
the 'sympathy card' works wonders on x factor and BGT.

Reply 5

Good bloke

I agree with River85 - get your referee to go into detail about it, and you can then give it no more than a passing mention yourself. The PS is short enough without having a major diversion.